1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for generating super-high pressure, particularly which includes an integrated means for generating pressure.
2. Background Art
Super-high pressure generating apparatus for producing diamond, carbide material, etc. are generally known in the art. Pressures generated by such apparatus range from tens of thousands to several tens of thousands kg/cm.sup.2.
Such apparatus may be of any of the following types.
One such apparatus referred to as a "belt type", is equipped with a disk-like cylinder having a hole in the center thereof. A pair of anvils having projecting ends are respectively urged toward the hole from both sides to generate super-high pressure.
Another type of such apparatus is called a "diamond type" in which anvils are arranged in six directions, i.e., upper and lower, front and rear, and left and right; these anvils are synchronously urged toward the center thereof to generate very high pressure.
Also known in the art is a so-called "split-sphere type" in which a spherical body is divided into six or eight sections to form an internal space in the central portion thereof. This internal space is pressed by the body sections from all directions to obtain very high pressure.
The assignee of the present invention has also previously proposed, in Japanese Patent Application No. 225,128/1984, the "very high pressure apparatus" which is a modified form of the split spherical type discussed above. Such apparatus is depicted in FIG. 5 of the accompanying drawings.
As shown in FIG. 5, the very high pressure apparatus mentioned above is principally composed of a split sphere (b) defining an internal space (a) in the center thereof, a casing (c) for accommodating the split sphere (b), and a piston (d) for pressing the split sphere (b) inside the casing (c).
The split sphere (b) is an assembly of split, moveable bodies (e) in the form of flat-top, round-bottom quadrangular pyramids, which can be formed when a sphere is equally divided into more than four sections and the tips or the peaks are cut off.
The center of the split sphere (b) is formed with the internal space (a) defined by the opposedly arranged split moveable bodies (e) in order to accommodate therein an article to be pressed.
The split moveable bodies (e) are forced to move inwardly in diametrical directions, thereby uniformly pressing the article in all directions.
The casing (c), which possesses room inside thereof for accommodating the split sphere (b) may be, for example, a cubic body. The casing (c) consists of upper and lower sections formed by horizontally cutting the cubic body so as to accommodate the split sphere (b). The two sections are recessed spherically so as to provide enough room for the split sphere (b) in the middle of the casing (c).
The split moveable bodies (e) can respectively move slightly toward the center of the sphere inside the room or cavity formed inside the casing.
Also provided inside the casing (c) are pressure chambers (g) which face each other and are contiguous to the recesses (f), respectively. The center lines of the pressure chambers (g) are respectively directed toward the center of the split sphere (b). The pressure chambers (g) are formed so as to correspond to the split moveable bodies (e) respectively. The split moveable bodies (e) are adapted to be moved inwardly by fluid pressure introduced into the chambers (g).
Two sections of the casing (c) respectively have flanges (h) which protrude from the lateral sides thereof. Couplings (i) which are U-shaped in cross-section are fitted over the flanges (h) to thereby firmly clamp the split casing (c). Hollow cylindrical pistons (d) are actuatable inside the pressure chambers (g).
Curved head portions at the end of the pistons (d) possess the same curvature as that of the sphere (b) and are in contact with the outer surfaces of the split moveable bodies (e). Connected to the pressure chambers (g) through oil passage (k) are hydraulic pumps (1) separately provided outside of the casing (c). Fluid pressure supplied from the hydraulic pumps (1) acts on the piston (d).
The piston (d) respectively urge and move the split moveable bodies (e) so that very high pressure is applied to the article inside the internal space (a). The pressurizing fluid is not limited to oil but other fluids, if they are non-compressive, may be employed.
The above-described proposals and other conventional super-high pressure apparatus have the following drawbacks. Fluid pressure supplied to the pressure chambers (g) was provided by a hydraulic pump (1) or the like which was separate and independent from and outside of the casing (c). However, such an arrangement is undesirable in that the piping required to deliver the fluid to the pressure chambers is complicated, especially since the fluid pressure to be supplied to the pressure chambers (g) should be of the order of several 1000 kg/cm.sup.2, and it is generally necessary to individually provide a hydraulic pump (1) for each pressure chamber (g).
Consequently, the structure of the entire apparatus becomes very complicated, and it is necessary to allow considerable installation space for installation.
Typical hydraulic pumps have performance of 1000 to 2000 kg/cm.sup.2. However, pressure of the fluid to be introduced into the pressure chambers (g) is on the order of several 1000 kg/cm.sup.2. Therefore, special hydraulic pumps are required, since if the typical type of hydraulic pumps are used, measures must be taken to obtain high fluid pressures. Accordingly, apparatus according to the proposals discussed above are expensive.
The present invention has been developed to effectively solve the above problems.